Snug as a bug in a police state rug

To the Editor:

The recently revealed Department of Defense universal

busy-bodying plan (UBBP) to spy on the spending

habits, medical records, web surfing, credit card

records and other personal information of all

Americans in the search for "potential terrorist

patterns" is highly lunatic. It should give pause to

any thinking or shopping citizen. Would buying a

six-pack of Bud Light at Kmart constitute a "potential

terrorist pattern" in the eyes of the DOD? Would

buying a bottle-opener at the same time be even more

suspicious?

Obviously, with the universal busy-bodying plan (UBBP)

in effect, any potential terrorist worth his salt

would deal in untraceable cash and would make serious

efforts to hide his tracks and thus stay "below the

radar."

The grandiose Mr. John Poindexter apparently has long

dreamed of creating a massive database of information

on all American citizens. However, this project is

entirely unnecessary. All we have to do is tighten up

our borders and regain control of who gets into our

country and bother to track their movements after they

get in and to arrest or kick out potential terrorists

before they can act. In other words, the INS, the FBI

and the CIA need to do their jobs, talk to each other

and then act in concert. In the meantime, no worries,

mate. You'll soon be feeling snug as a bug in a

police-state rug.

Yours truly,

James K. Sayre

22 November 2002